UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS OACA Spyros Louis - Athens Thursday 26 November 2020 18.55CET (19.55 local time) AEK Athens FC Group G - Matchday 4 FC Zorya Luhansk Last updated 24/11/2020 17:16CET Match background 2 Legend 3 1 AEK Athens FC - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 26 November 2020 - 18.55CET (19.55 local time) Match press kit OACA Spyros Louis, Athens Match background Convincing winners away to Zorya Luhansk in their last Group G fixture, AEK Athens will be confident of beating the Ukrainian side again as they welcome them to the Greek capital on Matchday 4. • The clubs had identical records after two games, having both lost to Leicester and Braga, but it was AEK who got their UEFA Europa League campaign up and running on Matchday 3, goals from Muamer Tankovic, Petros Mantalos and Marko Livaja (two) carrying them to a comprehensive 4-1 victory in Zaporizhia. It was AEK's joint biggest away win in UEFA competition and Zorya's heaviest European home defeat. Previous meetings • Zorya had never faced a Greek club in Europe until Matchday 3, while AEK's one and only previous pairing with Ukrainian opposition came in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 32, where they drew twice with Dynamo Kyiv (1-1 h, 0-0 a) but were eliminated on the away goals rule. Form guide AEK • Third in last season's Greek Superleague, 22 points adrift of champions Olympiacos, AEK's 2019/20 European campaign ended in the UEFA Europa League play-offs, where they lost on away goals to Trabzonspor (1-3 h, 2-0 a). • Massimo Carrera's side overcame St Gallen (1-0 a) and Wolfsburg (2-1 h) in this season's qualifying phase, enabling the club to reach the UEFA Europa League group stage for the fifth time. AEK failed to make further progress in their first three participations, in 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12, but made it through at the fourth attempt, in 2017/18, as runners-up to AC Milan. Indeed, they remained unbeaten in that campaign, the two draws against Dynamo Kyiv in the round of 32 coming after they had also shared the points in five of their six group games in addition to an opening 2-1 win at Rijeka. • AEK have won only two of their 13 home games in the UEFA Europa League group stage (D5 L6), the 1-2 defeat by Leicester on Matchday 2 making it nine in a row without a victory in Athens, their last success coming on Matchday 1 of the 2010/11 season when they won 3-1 against Hajduk Split. Zorya • Third in the 2019/20 Ukrainian Premier League, Zorya are featuring in European competition for the seventh successive season. Defeated at the play-off stage of the UEFA Europa League in four of the six previous campaigns, including last season when, under current coach Viktor Skrypnyk, they were ousted by Espanyol (1-3 a, 2-2 h), their league placing earned them direct access to the group stage this term – as it did for their two previous participations, in 2016/17 and 2017/18. • Zorya finished bottom of their group, on two points, in 2016/17 and third, with six points, the following season. They have yet to experience European football in the spring. • Zorya have won just one of their last eight European away games (D2 L5) and only once on their travels in the UEFA Europa League group stage, 1-0 at Athletic Club on Matchday 2 in 2017/18. That is the only goal Zorya have scored outside Ukraine in the group stage, the other six matches, most recently on Matchday 1 at Leicester (0-3), having all ended in defeat. Links and trivia • AEK have two Ukrainian internationals in their ranks – Dmytro Chygrynskiy, who joined from Dnipro in 2016 after making his name at Shakhtar Donetsk, and Yevhen Shakhov, another ex-Dnipro player who also played on loan with Arsenal Kyiv. Both players have scored against Zorya – Chygrynskiy for Shakhtar in July 2010 (1-0 h) and Shakhov for Dnipro in May 2011 (1-0 a) and April 2016 (2-1 a). • Chygrynskiy, who started on Matchday 3, has now won all 11 of his matches against Zorya, while Shakhov's record in 13 fixtures against the Luhansk side is W7 D2 L4. • Levi García (AEK) and Maksim Grechkin (Zorya) were Beitar Jerusalem team-mates in 2019/20. 2 AEK Athens FC - FC Zorya Luhansk Thursday 26 November 2020 - 18.55CET (19.55 local time) Match press kit OACA Spyros Louis, Athens Legend Competitions Club competitions National team competitions UCL: UEFA Champions League EURO: UEFA European Football Championship ECCC: European Champion Clubs' Cup WC: FIFA World Cup UEL: UEFA Europa League CONFCUP: FIFA Confederations Cup UCUP: UEFA Cup FRIE: Friendly internationals UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup U21FRIE: Under-21 friendly internationals SCUP: UEFA Super Cup U21: UEFA European Under-21 Championship UIC: UEFA Intertoto Cup U17: UEFA Under-17 Championship ICF: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup U16: UEFA European Under-16 Championship U19: UEFA Under-19 Championship U18: UEFA European Under-18 Championship WWC: FIFA Women's World Cup WEURO: UEFA European Women's Championship Competition stages Other abbreviations F: Final GS: Group stage (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties GS1: First group stage GS2: Second group stage No.: Number og: Own goal 3QR: Third qualifying round R1: First round ag: Match decided on away P: Penalty R2: Second round R3: Third round goals agg: Aggregate R4: Fourth round PR: Preliminary round Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances SF: Semi-finals QF: Quarter-finals Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition R16: round of 16 QR: Qualifying round Pts: Points D: Drawn R32: Round of 32 1QR: First qualifying round R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth 1st: first leg 2QR: Second qualifying Res.: Result ET: Extra Time round sg: Match decided by silver GA: Goals against 2nd: second leg FT: Final tournament goal t: Match decided by toss of a PO: Play-off ELITE: Elite round coin Rep: Replay 3rdPO: Third-place play-off GF: Goals for W: Won PO - FT: Play-off for Final GS-FT: Group stage – final gg: Match decided by golden Y: Booked Tournament tournament goal L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow Nat.: Nationality cards) N/A: Not applicable f: Match forfeited Statistics -: Denotes player substituted +: Denotes player introduced *: Denotes player sent off +/-: Denotes player introduced and substituted Squad list D: Disciplinary *: Misses next match if booked S: Suspended QUAL: All UEFA qualifiers UEL: Current season total UEFA Europa League appearances from the group stage onwards prior to the current matchday UEL: Total appearances in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final only UEFA: All-time total appearances in UEFA club competition including qualifying Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Therefore, UEFA assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. More information can be found in the competition regulations available on UEFA.com. 3.